As in any state, certain counties are better for deer hunting than others, and Mississippi is no exception. Some of the best Mississippi counties for deer hunting are Madison, Issaquena, Yazoo, Hinds, Holmes, Copiah, Warren, Noxubee and Lowndes. Some of the worst are those nearest the coast. Let’s take a look at what makes a Mississippi county good for hunting, and which areas in general are better than others.
If you get in the right area within some of the lesser quality counties you still can find yourself amidst surprisingly good deer hunting.
In those less publicized deer counties, the prices of deer camps and leases will be much lower than in the more well known areas. Conversely, unless you have a friend or family connection, you’ll usually have to pay top dollar to hunt the best Mississippi deer counties.
The Mississippi Delta and Big Black regions are well known as the most consistent big buck producers in the state. Any of these highly publicized counties are going to command a premium, especially within the best areas in those counties. There may be better value found for you elsewhere if you look hard enough.
What Makes A Good Mississippi Deer Hunting County?
- Genetics
- Physical Environment
- Deer Density
- Human Population Density
- Public Access
- Trophy Management
1. Genetics
At this point, most deer hunters are well aware of the role that genetics play in the production of trophy bucks. Mississippi certainly has a quality genetic pool when it comes to whitetails.
In this state, it’s more about positioning yourself in an area with good dirt and intense trophy management than it is in seeking the best genetics. While the state has come a long way over the years, there are still far too many areas where people just want to kill a “legal buck”. You’ve got to try to get away from those areas if you want a shot at a nice deer.
2. Physical Environment
A huge factor with how large a whitetail gets is the quality of the dirt in a given area. The better the dirt, the better the forage and subsequent nutrients that whitetails depend on.
Poor soil is why some of the worst deer counties in Mississippi are found along the coast line. The soil types in many of those southernmost counties is just poor for growing big deer.
Anywhere you find heavy agriculture use will generally coincide with more and bigger deer. Ideally, you’ll want to stay away from the coastal counties and those areas completely dominated by vast stretches of pine forests. You can certainly find big bucks and quality deer hunting in those pine plantations, but that’s never going to be the “best”.
If all you can afford to lease or buy is a pine plantation, try to at least find one adjacent to, or near a major creek drainage or river system. Those areas are far better than a massive unbroken stretch of pine forest.
3. Mississippi Deer Density
If anything, deer density is too high in much of the state. If you want to just kill a deer, that’s great. However, if you want to pursue trophy bucks, you don’t necessarily want to focus on areas just having the highest deer densities.
What most deer hunters really want is to hunt areas that have the highest percentage of hunters working towards a common goal of a better buck-doe ratio. I know! How are you supposed to find that? Well, generally, counties with the greatest trophy potential do have the greatest percentage of hunters working towards managing those deer herds. So, this leads us back to the Mississippi Delta and Big Black regions. Because of the soil types, the deer density is great in those counties, but more importantly, they attract like minded hunters.
If you can afford to, and can find a way to attain deer hunting permission in Madison or Hinds county, your odds of having great hunting go way up. Good luck! That’s a lot easier said than done. The human population density is high in those 2 counties, and the competition for good deer land is fierce.
4. Human Population Density By County
The human population density of a county certainly affects the number of acres available for hunting. It also affects the pressure on the deer population, and the cost to lease a deer property in that county. So, I think it matters when searching for a county to deer hunt in.
Below is a table showing the population of each Mississippi county. You’ll notice that some of the best counties have a high human population. Unfortunately, that means the competition is extremely high for good land in those areas. The higher the population, the higher the cost of your lease in that area.
Most hunters are better off looking for a sweet spot in order to get the most bang for your buck. Find a county with the most hunt-able, acres combined with the least number of residents and you’re in the money.
When I say hunt-able acres, what I mean is you’ll have to be cognizant of the fact that some Mississippi Delta counties have very little forested land. Finding a hunting lease in counties with nothing but vast stretches of crop fields can be quite a challenge. Google Earth is your friend.
| Rank | County | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hinds | 227,742 |
| 2 | Harrison | 208,621 |
| 3 | DeSoto | 185,314 |
| 4 | Rankin | 157,031 |
| 5 | Jackson | 143,252 |
| 6 | Madison | 109,145 |
| 7 | Lee | 83,343 |
| 8 | Forrest | 78,158 |
| 9 | Lauderdale | 72,984 |
| 10 | Jones | 67,246 |
| 11 | Lamar | 64,222 |
| 12 | Lowndes | 58,879 |
| 13 | Pearl River | 56,145 |
| 14 | Lafayette | 55,813 |
| 15 | Oktibbeha | 51,788 |
| 16 | Hancock | 46,053 |
| 17 | Washington | 44,922 |
| 18 | Warren | 44,722 |
| 19 | Pike | 40,324 |
| 20 | Lincoln | 34,907 |
| 21 | Alcorn | 34,740 |
| 22 | Monroe | 34,180 |
| 23 | Marshall | 33,752 |
| 24 | Panola | 33,208 |
| 25 | Pontotoc | 31,184 |
| 26 | Bolivar | 30,985 |
| 27 | Adams | 29,538 |
| 28 | Neshoba | 29,087 |
| 29 | Copiah | 28,368 |
| 30 | Leflore | 28,339 |
| 31 | Tate | 28,064 |
| 32 | Scott | 27,990 |
| 33 | Union | 27,770 |
| 34 | Yazoo | 26,743 |
| 35 | Sunflower | 25,971 |
| 36 | Simpson | 25,949 |
| 37 | Prentiss | 25,008 |
| 38 | Marion | 24,441 |
| 39 | George | 24,350 |
| 40 | Itawamba | 23,863 |
| 41 | Tippah | 21,815 |
| 42 | Grenada | 21,815 |
| 43 | Coahoma | 21,390 |
| 44 | Newton | 21,291 |
| 45 | Leake | 21,000 |
| 46 | Wayne | 20,000 |
| 47 | Tishomingo | 19,000 |
| 48 | Clay | 18,000 |
| 49 | Covington | 18,000 |
| 50 | Stone | 18,000 |
| 51 | Attala | 18,000 |
| 52 | Winston | 18,000 |
| 53 | Chickasaw | 17,000 |
| 54 | Holmes | 17,000 |
| 55 | Jasper | 16,000 |
| 56 | Clarke | 16,000 |
| 57 | Smith | 14,000 |
| 58 | Walthall | 14,000 |
| 59 | Greene | 14,000 |
| 60 | Calhoun | 13,000 |
| 61 | Amite | 13,000 |
| 62 | Tallahatchie | 13,000 |
| 63 | Yalobusha | 12,000 |
| 64 | Lawrence | 12,000 |
| 65 | Perry | 12,000 |
| 66 | Jefferson Davis | 11,000 |
| 67 | Noxubee | 10,000 |
| 68 | Carroll | 10,000 |
| 69 | Webster | 10,000 |
| 70 | Montgomery | 10,000 |
| 71 | Tunica | 10,000 |
| 72 | Claiborne | 9,000 |
| 73 | Kemper | 9,000 |
| 74 | Wilkinson | 9,000 |
| 75 | Choctaw | 8,000 |
| 76 | Humphreys | 8,000 |
| 77 | Franklin | 8,000 |
| 78 | Benton | 8,000 |
| 79 | Jefferson | 7,000 |
| 80 | Quitman | 6,000 |
| 81 | Sharkey | 4,000 |
| 82 | Issaquena | 1,338 |
5. Public And Private Access To Hunting Areas
As a deer hunter, it doesn’t do you much good that a localized deer herd is exemplary if you can’t get access to that area. When you consider the cost of private land access and the fierce competition on public lands in the “best counties”, you might come to realize that those counties are not the “best” for you.
Make no mistake, there is great deer hunting in other counties that don’t fall into that best category. I’m hesitant to name specific counties as I’ve not hunted them all, but it’s safe to say there is good deer hunting all over this great state.
6. Trophy Management
I think we have already driven this point home. If you are seeking “big bucks”, you want to get around other hunters that are managing their deer herds for that same goal. In this state, consistent trophy deer come primarily from areas with good dirt combined with great deer management (i.e. restraint from shooting young bucks). One of the best ways to find such an area is to make buddies with hunters in an existing trophy deer club. Beware, that’s gonna cost you some “big bucks”!
Top Mississippi Deer Counties
It’s no secret that the best overall deer counties in Mississippi are those that border the Mississippi River, the Big Black River and a few counties on the Eastern side of the state that fall within the Black Belt region. That’s where you’ll find the most fertile soils that support the largest numbers of deer with the highest weights, and largest antlers.
Because the regions mentioned above are naturally good hunting areas, they tend to draw in hunters that are more selective in which bucks they take. These more restrained hunters allow more bucks to reach 3.5 years old and beyond. And that is the ticket to consistent sightings of trophy bucks – when there are more of them around.
Pull out a map and start circling counties along the Mississippi River and the Big Black river. That will give you a good starting point to finding the best deer hunting areas in Mississippi.
You have got to hunt where big bucks live if you want to ever have a chance at taking one, so I would try to keep the majority of my hunting efforts in or near one of the top tier counties. With that said, I have hunted in heavily pressured areas within good deer counties where the neighboring hunters were NOT selective. That is a recipe for mediocre success. So, finding a good spot within the good counties is still important.
The residents of some counties are better at keeping big buck kills on the down low than others. Advertising big buck areas is a sure way to draw in competition and drive up lease prices, and many residents know this. There are definitely some less publicized hidden gems out there. It usually takes some time and the willingness to move around year to year to find one for yourself.
Conclusion
I ran across a post online where someone stated “to kill a trophy buck, you should hunt in counties with a lot of trophy hunters”. There’s a lot of truth in that statement. Because a deer’s age is one of the most dominant factors in how large a buck can get, you want to hunt in areas where people let them grow.
If you can find a large pocket of land somewhere that has surrounding like minded hunters, your odds go way up, regardless of county. In the end, Mississippi deer hunting plays second fiddle to Alabama and Louisiana. Don’t waste your time here. Go over there. Much better deer hunting in those states! 😉
Good Luck!
Augustus Clay
To get a better idea of where the best trophy hunting is within the state, have a look at the Mississippi Magnolia Records Program.
